The present invention generally relates to lighters such as pocket lighters used to light cigarettes and cigars, or utility lighters used to ignite candles, barbecue grills, fireplaces and campfires, and more particularly to such lighters which resist inadvertent operation or undesirable operation by unintended users.
Lighters used for igniting tobacco products, such as cigars, cigarettes, and pipes, have developed over a number of years. Typically, these lighters use either a rotary friction element or a piezoelectric element to generate a spark near a nozzle which emits fuel from a fuel container. Piezoelectric mechanisms have gained universal acceptance because they are simple to use. U.S. Pat. No. 5,262,697 (xe2x80x9cthe ""697 patentxe2x80x9d) to Meury discloses one such piezoelectric mechanism, the disclosure in the ""697 patent is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
Lighters have also evolved from small cigarette or pocket lighters to several forms of extended or utility lighters. These utility lighters are more useful for general purposes, such as lighting candles, barbecue grills, fireplaces and campfires. Earlier attempts at such designs relied simply on extended actuating handles to house a typical pocket lighter at the end. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,259,059 and 4,462,791 contain examples of this concept.
Many pocket and utility lighters have had some mechanism for resisting undesired operation of the lighter by young children. Often, these mechanisms are on/off switches which may shut off the fuel source or may prevent movement of an actuator, such as a push-button, on the lighter. On/off switches which a user positively moves between xe2x80x9conxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9coffxe2x80x9d positions can be problematic. For example, an adult user may forget to move the switch back to the xe2x80x9coffxe2x80x9d position after use and thereby render the feature ineffective.
Other pocket and utility lighters include a spring-biased blocking latch which arrests or prevents movement of the actuator or push-button. U.S. Pat. No. 5,697,775 to Saito and U.S. Pat. No. 5,145,358 to Shike, et al., disclose examples of such lighters.
There remains a need for lighters which resist inadvertent operation or undesirable operation by unintended users, but which provide each intended user with a consumer-friendly method of operating the lighters so that the lighters appeal to a variety of intended users.
The present invention is directed to a lighter with at least two modes of operation. In either mode of operation, the lighter preferably is operational with no blocking mechanism(s) which arrests or prevents movement of an actuating member when the wand assembly is in a partially or fully extended position.
The present invention, in one embodiment, relates to a lighter which generally comprises a housing which contains fuel, an actuating member for actuating the lighter, and a plunger member. The plunger member preferably moves between a high-actuation-force or first member position and a low-actuation-force or second member position. A user applies a first actuating force to the actuating member to ignite the fuel when the plunger member is positioned in the first member position, and a second actuating force to the actuating member to ignite the fuel when the plunger member is positioned in the second member position. The first actuating force is greater than the second actuating force.
More specifically, in one embodiment, the plunger member in the high-actuation-force position indirectly drives a biasing member so that the biasing member provides a first opposing force which opposes or resists actuation of the lighter. When the user moves or repositions the plunger member to the low-actuation-force position, the biasing member provides a second different force which opposes or resists actuation of the lighter.
Preferably, the first opposing force provided by the biasing member is greater, and optionally significantly greater, than the second opposing force. Optionally, the second opposing force provided by the biasing member may be substantially zero. The biasing member in the low-actuation-force mode may not oppose or resist movement of the actuating member when the user applies a force thereto to the same extent as in the high-actuation-force mode. In one embodiment, the plunger member in the high-actuation-force position may be operatively associated with, engaged or in contact with, or coupled to the actuating member. In the low-actuation-force position, the plunger member may be in contact with or disengaged from the actuating member such that the biasing member may not significantly resist or oppose movement of the actuating member.
In accordance with one embodiment, the actuating member may selectively dispense fuel, activate an ignition assembly or perform both functions. The lighter optionally may have an ignition assembly actuated by the actuating member. The ignition assembly may include a piezoelectric unit. The actuating member may be at least one trigger. In the high-actuation-force position, the biasing member may resist movement of the trigger to an actuation position by increasing the force necessary to actuate the trigger.
In a further aspect, a latch member may be operatively associated with the plunger member. The latch member can be coupled to the housing in a number of ways, such as pivotally, slidably, in a cantilevered fashion, or a combination of these couplings. In the pivotal coupling, one end of the latch member is coupled to the housing while the other end is free to move. Movement of the latch member may move the plunger member between the high-actuation-force position and the low-actuation-force position. The latch member may be separate from an additional biasing member or may be resiliently deformable, or the plunger member may be moved or repositioned directly by the user.
In an alternate embodiment, the lighter further includes a plunger member with an engaging portion and an actuating assembly with an engaging portion. The plunger member is movable between a first, at rest state and a second state. In the first state, the plunger member engaging portion is associated with the engaging portion of the actuating assembly, and the actuating assembly moves the engaging portion of the plunger member. In the second state, the engaging portion of the plunger member is not engaged with the engaging portion of the actuating assembly.
This embodiment may further include a jet and valve assembly for dispensing fuel which is biased into a closed position and moveable to an open position. The actuating assembly causes selective movement of a jet or valve stem. When in the high-actuation-force position, the biasing member through the plunger member resists or opposes movement of the actuating assembly. If the user applies a force equal to or greater than a first trigger force to the actuating assembly when the plunger member is in the high-actuation-force position, the valve stem moves from the closed position to the open position. When the plunger member is in the low-actuation-force position, the user may apply a lower second trigger force to the actuating assembly in order to move the valve stem between such positions. The configuration of the actuating assembly and the location of an ignition assembly may also allow movement of the trigger to actuate the ignition assembly.
One preferred aspect of the multi-mode lighter according to at least one embodiment is that after multiple actuations of the lighter, the first and second trigger forces required to operate the lighter in either mode, and more preferably the first trigger force, remain substantially constant. Thus, the first and second opposing forces exerted by the biasing member preferably do not substantially decrease with use of the lighter.
According to yet another embodiment, the lighter comprises a housing having a supply of fuel, an ignition assembly for igniting the dispensed fuel, an actuating member associated with the housing, and a repositionable plunger member operatively connected to the housing. A predetermined actuating force is necessary to move the actuating member to an actuation position to actuate the lighter. In a first position, the plunger member is associated with the actuating member such that a first actuating force greater than the force to operate the system is required to move the actuating member to the actuation position.
According to a preferred aspect of the multi-mode lighter, the first or high-actuation-force mode preferably relies more on the user""s physical characteristics, and more specifically strength characteristics, while the second or low-actuation-force mode preferably relies more on the user""s cognitive abilities and dexterity. In yet another preferred, but optional, aspect of this lighter, the user may actuate the lighter in the high-actuation-force mode with a single finger. Moreover, according to another preferred, but optional, aspect of this lighter, the user may actuate the lighter in the low-actuation-force mode with two fingers. One further preferred, but optional, feature of the lighter is that actuation of the lighter in the high-actuation-force mode may occur by a different actuation sequence or movement than the actuation sequence or movements which may occur in the low-actuation-force mode.
In another embodiment of the present invention, the lighter comprises a housing having a supply of fuel, an actuating member for selectively igniting the fuel, the actuating member associated with the housing, and first and second inhibiting members for at least increasing the difficulty of moving the actuation member to ignite the fuel. At least one of the inhibiting member allows the actuating member to move but is immobilized sufficiently to prevent ignition of the fuel.
According to one aspect of the present invention, the lighter further includes a moveable wand assembly and the first inhibiting member increases the difficulty of moving the actuation member based on the position of the wand assembly. In such an embodiment, the first inhibiting member can be a cam follower.
According to another aspect of the present invention, the second inhibiting member comprises a plunger member.